KZ RV Hosts 39th Annual Dealer Open House

Dealer personnel enjoy comments from KZ RV President Daryl Zook (not pictured) at the company's open house

Shipshewana, Ind.-based towable manufacturer KZ RV Inc. held its 39th annual open house over the weekend with about 70 dealerships – 130 people total – in attendance for the May 13-16 event. The agenda included product displays at the company’s home plant as well as a social hour at a Middlebury, Ind., restaurant and a casino trip. The gathering also featured a Sunday awards brunch and a dinner at the nearby Essen Haus Conference Center at which Emmy-award winning journalist and author Don Teague spoke. Currently a CBS news correspondent, Teague provided a stirring presentation on his experiences in the Iraqi War and, subsequently, as his family helped a young Iraqi translator emigrate to the U.S. KZ Vice President of Sales and Marketing Andy Baer says the company, which showed new models of its lightweight Spree Escape travel trailer, Inferno toy hauler and its first 40th anniversary floorplan in a Durango 2500, continues to hold its open house in the spring, despite the growing industry trend toward a mass September open house event. “Of course, we planned this a long time ago,” said Baer. “Next year, it remains to be seen whether we make that changeover into the fall or not. As long as we can keep attendance at this level, it’s working for us. It’s just been a tradition with us that we’ve been cautious about changing. We want to do what’s best for our dealers, and if it works best for fall, then that’s the direction that we’ll go.”